The European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic-led delegation on Monday started two days of “intensive talks” with the Indian team led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to give a push to the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The idea is to reach the finish line before the year-end deadline.
Sefcovic’s delegation to New Delhi includes EU’s Director General for Trade Sabine Weyand and other officials involved in the talks. On Sunday, Weyand’s team held day-long discussions with Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on the agreement.
“In India for a two-day marathon of meetings with Piyush Goyal to advance our trade and investment negotiations,” Sefcovic posted on ‘X’.
Sefcovic meets Jaishankar
Before the delegation level talks in the commerce ministry, Sefcovic met Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar. While the year-end deadline to wrap up the negotiations was set in February when the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited India with the full college of commissioners, Agrawal had said at en event late late October that FTA could be finalised in the first quarter of 2026 or even earlier.
“EU-India ties are growing fast-as they should be among partners. But we have only scratched the surface. A commercially meaningful FTA would unlock the full potential,: the EU Trade Commissioner said.
An overview of India and EU’s ongoing FTA negotiations
India and the EU resumed talks on a comprehensive FTA in June 2022. In addition to the main agreement, both sides are also negotiating deals on Geographical Indications and Investment Protection. The FTA covers 23 chapters or policy areas. “Of the 23 chapters under discussion, 11 have already been closed.
Important chapters still under negotiation include market access for cars, steel, certain aspects of services and investments and technical barriers to trade,” EU Ambassador to India Herve Delphin on last Friday. Since the relaunch, 14 formal rounds of negotiations on the FTA have taken place. Following the 14th round in October, the sides shifted to a format of continuous negotiations, supplemented by meetings between top officials and political leadership to expedite progress.
The EU is pressing for significant duty cuts on automobiles and medical devices, along with tax reductions on wine, spirits, meat, and poultry, as well as a strong intellectual property framework. India, meanwhile, seeks duty-free access for labor-intensive goods and emerging sectors such as autos and electronics.
The FTA is considered crucial, as the 27-member bloc is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral merchandise trade totalling $136.2 billion, though the US remains the country’s biggest market. Exports to the EU stood at $75.8 billion in 2024-25, while imports were $60.6 billion. Services trade is also robust, reaching $70 billion in 2023, giving India a surplus of $9.25 billion.